Punjab forest and wildlife preservation minister Chunni Lal Bhagat and senior officials of the health department were caught on wrong foot on Sunday afternoon when they entered the burns ward of the local civil hospital with shoes on.

A senior doctor of the hospital said that maintaining the ward was not an easy task as it required an anti-bacterial environment and proper cooling through ACs.

Besides, the high risk of infection required that the entry of people in the ward should be restricted, the doctor said.

Besides, the door of the ward should be kept closed due to air infection but all these guidelines were ignored during the visit of the minister and other health officials, including civil surgeon and medical superintendent.

Moreover, visiting persons including minister and others had also not worn any masks, gowns, caps and gloves.

HT repeatedly tried to contact medical superintendent Dr Jagjit Singh Cheema on his mobile but he did not respond.

According to information, Chunni Lal Bhagat, who is an MLA from Jalandhar west, had visited the hospital to meet the patients, who had suffered serious burns when a fire broke out due to the leakage of an LPG cylinder outside a house in Shivaji Nagar here on Friday. The locality is under the jurisdiction of the minister.